Maximilian Schell
Date of birth: 1930-12-08
Place of birth: Vienna, Austria
Known for: Acting
Also known as:
Biography
Maximilian Schell (8 December 1930 – 1 February 2014) was a Swiss actor. Born in Austria, his parents were involved in the arts and he grew up surrounded by performance and literature. While he was still a child, his family fled to Switzerland in 1938 when Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany, and they settled in Zürich. After World War II ended, Schell took up acting and directing full-time. Schell won the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing a lawyer in the legal drama Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). He was Oscar-nominated for playing a character with multiple identities in The Man in the Glass Booth (1975) and for playing a man resisting Nazism in Julia (1977). Fluent in both English and German, Schell earned top billing in a number of Nazi-era themed films. He acted in films such as Topkapi (1964), The Deadly Affair (1967), Counterpoint (1968), Simón Bolívar (1969), The Odessa File (1974), A Bridge Too Far (1977), and Deep Impact (1998). On television, he received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the NBC film Miss Rose White and the HBO television film Stalin (1992), the later of which earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. He also portrayed Otto Frank in the TV film The Diary of Anne Frank (1980), the Russian emperor Peter the Great in the NBC series Peter the Great (1986), Frederick the Great in the British series Young Catherine (1991), and Brother Jean le Maistre in the miniseries Joan of Arc (1999). Schell also performed in a number of stage plays, including a celebrated performance as Prince Hamlet. Schell was an accomplished pianist and conductor, performing with Claudio Abbado and Leonard Bernstein, and with orchestras in Berlin and Vienna. His elder sister was the internationally noted actress Maria Schell; he produced the documentary tribute My Sister Maria in 2002. Description above from the Wikipedia article Maximilian Schell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movie Credits
Avalanche Express
1979-09-27
CIA agent Harry Wargrave is sent to aid Gen. Marenkov, a senior Russian official, who is defecting t
I Love You, Baby
2000-04-20
The crook couple Peter and Gwen have run away from Germany and are dreaming of a sweet life on Mallo
Judgment at Nuremberg
1961-12-18
In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military tribunal
To Be Hamlet
1985-01-19
Documentary examination of the role of Hamlet, in which ten prominent actors who have played the par
Abraham
1993-12-12
Rather than choosing a great leader or king, God chooses Abraham, an elderly shepherd from Mesopotam
Cross of Iron
1977-01-29
It is 1943, and the German army—ravaged and demoralised—is hastily retreating from the Russian front
Les Îles
1983-03-16
Topkapi
1964-09-02
Arthur Simon Simpson is a small-time crook biding his time in Greece. One of his potential victims t
A Bridge Too Far
1977-06-15
The story of Operation Market Garden—a failed attempt by the allies in the latter stages of WWII to
The Odessa File
1974-10-17
Following the suicide of an elderly Jewish man, investigative journalist Peter Miller sets out to hu
The Brothers Bloom
2008-09-09
The Brothers Bloom are the best con men in the world, swindling millionaires with complex scenarios
Deep Impact
1998-05-08
A seven-mile-wide space rock is hurtling toward Earth, threatening to obliterate the planet. Now, it
The Shell Seekers
2007-10-18
Penelope Keeling, a sixty-four-year-old daughter of a famous artist, reflects on her life, and the f
The Chosen
1981-08-20
In a 1940s New York, two Jewish teenage boys are determined to remain friends despite the deep diffe
The Black Hole
1979-12-18
The explorer craft USS Palomino is returning to Earth after a fruitless 18-month search for extra-te
Vampires
1998-10-30
The church enlists a team of vampire-hunters to hunt down and destroy a group of vampires searching
The Eighteenth Angel
1997-01-01
Mythology and religious dogma are slowly revealed when an attractive young woman is approached by a
The Young Lions
1958-04-02
The lives of three young men, a German and two Americans, during WWII.
Julia
1977-10-01
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission t
The Pedestrian
1973-09-05
When a German businessman causes a car accident with deadly consequences, the papers start digging i
The Deadly Affair
1967-01-26
Charles Dobbs is a British secret agent investigating the apparent suicide of Foreign Office officia
St. Ives
1976-02-24
A dabbler-in-crime and his assistant hire an ex-police reporter to recover some stolen papers.
The Man in the Glass Booth
1975-01-27
Arthur Goldman is a rich Jewish industrialist, living in luxury in a Manhattan high-rise. He banters
Krakatoa, East of Java
1969-03-17
A team of maritime salvage workers are about to embark on a recovery dive. However the 1883 Krakatoa
On the Wings of Love
1999-04-08
Left Luggage
1998-03-30
While escaping from Nazis during the WWII, a Jewish man dug suitcases full of things dear to his hea
Return from the Ashes
1965-11-16
A Jewish woman, Dr. Michele Wolf, interred in a Nazi concentration camp during WWII returns to her P
The Diary of Anne Frank
1980-11-17
The story of a 13-year-old Jewish girl and her family who are forced into hiding by the Nazis during
Stalin
1992-11-21
The life and career of the brutal Soviet dictator, Josef Stalin. Through the eyes and memories of An
Darkness
2009-07-07
A man leaves his busy city life for the peace of the country home where he spent his early childhood
Festival in Cannes
2001-11-03
Cannes, 1999. Alice, an actress, wants to direct an indie picture. Kaz, a talkative (and maybe bogus
The Reluctant Saint
1962-11-02
Cupertino, Italy, 1623: A simple-minded and clumsy young man joins a Franciscan order as a hired han
House of the Sleeping Beauties
2006-11-02
Edmond, a man in his sixties whose wife has recently passed away, is told about a secret establishme
Die Rosenkönigin
2007-10-05
The Weidemann have a perfume factory but the business goes bad and blindly trust Marie, a young woma
The Fifth Column
1960-01-29
A TV film made as part of The Buick-Electra Playhouse.
The Return of the Dancing Master
2004-04-08
Stefan Lindman is a police officer in Boros, Sweden. When his mentor and retired former partner Herb
Tales from the Vienna Woods
1979-05-08
Based on a popular 1931 play, the film tells the fate of a naive young woman named Marianne, who bre
The Condemned of Altona
1962-10-30
A dying German magnate invites his youngest son and daughter-in-law home to discuss the future of th
Counterpoint
1967-12-22
In December of 1944, Lionel Evans, an internationally renowned American conductor, is on a USO tour
Together?
1979-12-14
Louise has left her husband, launched a career as a dress designer, and together with her son moved
My Sister Maria
2002-03-01
Maximilian Schell's portrait of his sister Maria.
The Castle
1968-08-30
A man comes to a small village to begin his new job as an attendant at the nearby castle. But everyb
Man Under Suspicion
1984-04-06
Shots are suddenly fired at a rally. A young man is arrested from the crowd. During questioning, he
Justice
1993-10-14
Senator Isaak Kohler shoots and kills Professor Winter in a crowded restaurant, while Winter is dini
First Love
1970-10-07
The story of two young lovers takes a tragic turn as the girl falls in love with the boy's father.
Simón Bolívar
1969-09-12
Simon Bolivar is the true-life story of the leader of the 1817 Venezuelan revolution.
Why Havel?
1991-10-01
The first part of the block will be dedicated to the monograph Vojtěch Jasný: The Film Poet in Exile
Players
1979-06-08
A rising tennis star falls for an older woman engaged with a wealthy man she doesn't love.
The Assisi Underground
1985-05-03
This film sheds light on the role of the Catholic Church and the people of Assisi in rescuing Italia
Five Finger Exercise
1962-04-19
The arrival of a young tutor triggers emotional crises for a wealthy family.
The Rose Garden
1989-12-22
In Germany, an old man attacks another old man and is arrested. The attacker refuses to speak. A fem
Die Liebe eines Priesters
2005-05-20
Michael, a hardened petty criminal, has made a hot score with two accomplices. On a hectic escape th
Der Bestseller - Mord auf italienisch
2002-11-08
The Plot to Assassinate Hitler
1955-06-21
A disillusioned Wehrmacht officer named Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators attem
Miss Rose White
1992-04-26
Two sisters, one a Polish concentration camp survivor, the other safely relocated to America with he
Children, Mother, and the General
1955-03-04
As Germany's fortunes in the latter part of World War II wane, several young boys, in their enthusia
The Last Ones Shall Be First
1957-07-03
The brother of a high ranking lawyer has killed the husband of a Polish woman, with whom he is havin
Heidi
1968-11-01
Heidi is an orphaned girl initially raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland. In order to g
The Girl from Flanders
1956-02-16
A love story between a German soldier and a young Flemish woman amidst World War I.
Ein Herz kehrt heim
1956-10-25
The Vampyre Wars
1996-01-01
1996 horror movie starring Chris Sarandon and Robert Englund
Black Flowers
2009-09-18
Following the failure of his last mission, RFG spy Michael Roddick decides to disappear, taking alon
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
1961-12-25
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the mu
Les brigands
2015-02-26
Karl Escher, the son of a prominent banker, was accused of embezzlement and forgery at the bank and
The Day That Shook the World
1975-10-31
An historical depiction of the events preceding the political murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, wo
Der seidene Schuh
1965-04-10
Die Ehe des Dr. med. Danwitz
1956-03-28
Dr. Danwitz is a dedicated physician. The assistant doctor works practically day and night on a rese
Die Bernauerin
1958-12-11
Die venezianischen Zwillinge
1966-12-26
Telling Lies in America
1997-08-02
A 17-year-old boy becomes friends with Billy Magic, the radio DJ he idolizes, and eventually slips i
Children of the Mountains
1958-10-15
Josef Rainer is a road worker in a mountain village in Liechtenstein. His wife Marianne works as a w
Ripening Youth
1955-09-14
The trials and tribulations of love in a school community in the still young Federal Republic of Ger
Alles Glück dieser Erde
2003-12-21
To their big surprise, the capable waitress Gundula Kirchner receives from the estate owner Xaver Sc
A Far Off Place
1993-03-12
Thrown together under incredible circumstances, two strangers must discover courage and strength whe
Die Alpenklinik
2006-05-01
After an alleged malpractice that led to the death of his brother, heart surgeon Daniel Guth took th
The Phantom of the Opera
1983-01-29
The Budapest Opera House's diva commits suicide after the owner ruins her career for having rejected
Candles in the Dark
1993-12-03
Candles in the Dark is the story of a girl who comes to visit her father's homeland, the Soviet Repu
John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning, Day of Drums
1966-04-10
An overview of John F. Kennedy's political career. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partne
You Can't Live Like That
1990-09-01
A film about the sociopolitical condition of the Soviet society at the end of the eighties.
Labyrinth
1991-11-27
Film makes the creative process visible by letting its narrative flow in the mind of a foreign direc
Taxichauffeur Bänz
1957-06-25
Oscar Bänz is a solid, middle-class taxi driver and widower. He loves his daughter Irma with all his
Pope Joan
1972-08-16
Based on the medieval legend of Pope Joan, who was made Pope for a brief period around 855 A.D. The
Little Odessa
1994-10-28
Long separated from his family, hitman Joshua returns to Brighton Beach for a contract killing for t
Marlene
1984-10-01
Retrospective on the career of enigmatic screen diva Marlene Dietrich.
The Freshman
1990-07-20
After a film student gets his belongings stolen, he meets a mobster bearing a startling resemblance
Zwischen Rosen
1997-02-18
Eine Dummheit macht auch der Gescheiteste
1959-06-29
Die sechste Frau
1959-01-22
The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years
1996-02-11
At the height of WWII and ten years after their union in Matlock Island, Father Ralph reunites with
The Desperate Ones
1967-07-26
In 1941, two Polish brothers escape a Soviet gulag. Their only escape route is through the impossibl
Der Meisterdieb
1958-01-15
Jedermann Remixed
2011-07-31
Based on archive holdings from nine decades, director Hannes Rossacher has created a complete Jederm
Verstörung - und eine Art von Poesie. Die Filmlegende Bernhard Wicki
2007-06-11
Documentary about film director and actor Bernhard Wicki.
In Conversation: Abby Mann and Maximillian Schell
2004-09-07
The actor and the writer reminisce about working on both the Playhouse 90 and Stanley Kramer version
Paulina 1880
1972-06-09
In 1880's Italy, young Paulina must join a monastery to escape a doomed relationship with a married
Maximilian Schell - Ein sehnsüchtiger Rebell
2010-12-03
Coast to Coast
2004-04-03
Barnaby and Maxine Pierce, an embattled married couple in Connecticut, are on the verge of divorce.
Judgment at Nuremberg
1959-04-16
Judgment at Nuremberg is an American television play broadcast live on April 16, 1959, as part of th
Just Messing About
2000-01-06
A painter learns that leaving the creative life behind is much more complicated than he expected.
End of the Game
1978-05-05
Hans Baerlach is a Swiss police detective who has dedicated much of his career to pursuing powerful